Long Live The New Flesh

This is a shout out to my main man, my brother from another mother, Mr. Xtop, hero among heroes, prince among crude belching men. For a million and a half reasons he is the single greatest, but today it is because of his amazing generosity and internet resources. Last night, a package awaited me at my door. Inside were two burned CDs. Xtop has already burned me countless discs, very recently the impossible to find Boredoms Super Roots series. This time it was Jesu, the Heart Ache EP and the not yet released full-length record. Jesu, for those who don’t know, is Justin Broadrick’s new band, picking up where Godflesh left off and stomping the shit out of their last CD, Hyms. Godflesh is dead. Long live Jesu.

Seriously, I love this shit. Dirge music. Heavy. Grinding. Moving like slowly melting glaciers across the dark water. Beautiful stuff. Aside from the usual bulldozer assault of guitar and a wall of fuzzed bass is some lighter, more ambient moments, much like the remix material from Messiah or Love and Hate in Dub, only minus the club beats. This time around it is ethereal, using acoustic guitars, keyboards and a chorus to create a wall of sadness and beauty. Like My Bloody Valentine or Swans, but, you know, different. No breakbeats, no techno playing around, this is somber, brooding music for emo kids who might finally have grown up. This is a great soundtrack for weeks of rain. Perfect for the coming holidays. I haven’t been this happy since Streetcleaner.

Good bless you, Mr. Xtop.